Listening to the post Thanksgiving episode of the iFanboy podcast last night, I was amused by a topic the guys discussed: Naming your child after a comic character. They made the point that you have to be subtle. Naming your kid “Peter” is okay, but you might want to avoid “Peter Parker Johnson.”
This got me wandering down memory lane…
I used to work for a human service agency at which I was responsible for interviewing applicants and determining their eligibility for a variety of social programs. For someone who writes, it’s a great way to get exposed to unique names. I have culled more than a few for my own purposes.
Usually, I’d see names more befitting a stripper than a neurosurgeon, such as Precious Sunshine. Ms. Sunshine seems destined for the pole rather than medical school, don’t you think?
I interviewed a woman one day… Looking over her application, I saw that her household consisted of both herself and her young son — a son whose name was Jor El.
Not believing my eyes, I checked the supporting documentation in the record, which included both a copy of the child’s birth certificate as well as validation from the Bureau of Vital Statistics.
“Just you and your son in the house?” I asked.
“Yes,” She answered.
“And his name…?” I wanted to hear her say it.
“Jor El.”
“And you’re aware that his name…?”
“YES!” She snapped, “He’s named after Superman’s father!”
It was a sensitive topic for her. I would later learn that the absent father named her son. She didn’t become aware of the connection until nerds like myself pointed it out to her. Often.
So what comic name would I give my child? “Hellboy” for a boy and “Triplicate Girl” if it’s a girl.
Gotta steer away from Logan, though. As the guys from iFanboy pointed out, there “will be too many 15 year olds out there” named Logan.
Besides, that guy from Gilmore Girls named Logan? He ruined it. “Kid’s a douche bag,” as iFanboy put it.
November 26th, 2007 at 9:50 am
My second son’s name is ‘Devlin’.
I didn’t name him after Devlin O’Ryan from the 5YL Legion… but I did name him with the knowledge that that character exists, if you see the difference.
November 26th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Naming your kid after a comic character is one thing. Naming him after a CREATOR is another. Though a “Waid Smith” is less likely to be recognized than say “Bruce Wayne Smith”, I think being named after a comic creator would be more embarassing and harder to explain. Unless you named your son “Kirby Lee Smith” cuz come on, that name just frelling rocks!
Oh and dibbs on naming my first born Liefeld!!!
November 26th, 2007 at 10:44 am
you’d hafta be stupid to name your child harley-quinn, though..
wait. what?
but really, how about bae, like beowulf?
that reminds me, the guy who said if his group got 150,000 members in nine months he’d name his son batman? his
facebook has 155,000 members.
November 26th, 2007 at 11:10 am
i like it ：）
November 26th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
My wife and I had a short list of names we were looking at for our daughter. On that list was the name Lane. Under pros? Lois Lane. Lane is now a feisty three year old.
November 26th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
I got my wife to agree to name our first son James Tiberius. She wants to name our fisrt daughter “Sofia” (after her grandmother or something, I wasn’t really paying attention as I was celebrating the fact that I could name our first son after the greatest Starfleet captain of all time). Neither child has been born yet, but there’s plenty of “trying” going on.
November 26th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
I know a guy named Peter Parker - he would have been born in the mid 1960s, so that’s not so bad. His parents probably didn’t know about the comic. Unfortunately, he got married, had a son…and named him Peter Parker. The kid is now five.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Whoa whoa whoa! A guy who wants to name his kid after Captain Kirk is getting laid?! The oddsmakers take a beating.
I heard there is not one but two children in this country named “ESPN” so little Jor El got off light.
Still it does support the idea that you need a license or a test or something before you can have a kid.